The 'Riverdale' Season 2 Premiere Proves It's Always Going To Be Cheryl's World

Ah, just as sure as the certainty that the sun will set every evening, we can count on the fact that Cheryl Blossom will always be up to something. That's right — Riverdale's resident River-Vixen-in-charge is back for more craziness and Season 2 has proven to be insane from the start. In addition to the Riverdale Season 2 Cheryl spoilers swirling out there, the red-headed Queen Bee is already showing just how far she's willing to go to sit on her rightful throne. And it's only episode one. Is there anything Cheryl isn't capable of? And just what can we expect from now that the second season is underway?

Cheryl took us on a rollercoaster of mixed emotions and WTF moments last season. She somehow went from mean girl to horror show to undeniably likable to queen in the span of a few short episodes. (This is a cycle that repeats, oh, every few seconds in our head while we watch.) She's the character we hate to love and love to hate, but we also feel sorta sorry for her while being totally intimidated at the same time. Plus, her one-liners are on point. We can't help that we're positively mesmerized by her presence... And now she's got even more power, she's taking that Cheryl-ness to the next level.

"Henceforth, if you breathe, it is because I give you air. If you drink, it is because I poured your cup myself. And if you move, it is quietly and with my blessing," she tells her own mother, who is wrapped with bandages and squirming in pain, burned terribly from the fire at Thornhill. A fire Cheryl started herself. Cheryl tells dear old mom that the incident must be remembered as an accident, and that she brought this on herself due to all the cruel abuse she's inflicted on her daughter. Now that mother Blossom is incapacitated, Cheryl's the one pulling on the marionette strings, and nobody — not Jason, not daddy, not mommy — is there to stop her. She's the one with the key to those dangerous family secrets, after all. It's Cheryl's world now, and everyone else is just living in it. We're going to be watching her every calculated move.

Just when you thought Cheryl couldn't get harsher, she does go ahead and thanks Archie for giving her the "kiss of life" while wishing his father well. He and the gang did save her life, so it's only right. Cheryl clearly has a heart under that ice cold exterior and those pristine winter whites, but will we see more of it? "Cheryl is taking the reins back from her mother. Hell hath no fury like a Cheryl scorned. She's kicking ass and taking names, for sure," Madelaine Petsch told Teen Vogue. You can say that again... Petsch even told TV Line that she thinks her character is "going to become colder and meaner in Season 2." Ouch.

But what's going on in there (*points to heart*), Cheryl? She explained further to Teen Vogue,

The undercurrent for Cheryl this season is just that she wants to be loved and she needs to be loved. She hasn't felt love since her brother left the world. You do see a lot of camaraderie between the gang and her in very interesting ways. Cheryl goes through a couple of really huge things that will torture her, and the gang is there for her every single time.

See? All she wants is love, people. And apparently she'll get some of it in the form of an "unexpected" love interest this season. Hopefully whoever they are will watch their back. We've seen what happens to those who cross Cheryl Blossom and, um, it's not pretty.